Thursday, October 9, 2008

In Mourning...

Ella Bella Farms has been a regular stop in my farmers' market shopping for over two years---first as a gem at the Temescal market then every Tuesday at the Ferry Plaza Market. I'm addicted to their beautiful berries, first strawberries, then black and raspberries. All of their produce just glows with deliciousness. Broccoli, dino kale, fuji apples, romaines and gem lettuces and I can't even begin to describe their repertoire of tomatoes.

Last Tuesday I bought the last of my produce at Ella Bella -- the family is living out a life long dream, farming on the Big Island in Hawaii! Despite efforts to pass along their land to another family for farming, the big berry mogol Driscoll's will be monoculturing that soil into oblivion.

This loss, another loss of a family farm in our community is what I'm mourning. Yes I'm mourning some of the best produce I've ever had, that has nourished me through many seasons. Yes, I'm mourning losing some of the biggest hearted, friendly farmers at the market. But really I'm mourning the loss of land dedicated to our food sovereignty, land dedicated to healthy soils and healthy foods for the Bay Area.

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